Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Old Guard
Netflix
Breeze rating from 1 to 4 palm trees, 4 being best.
The Old Guard is based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Greg Rucka about a covert group of immortal mercenaries that have been protecting the world for centuries. Led by Andy (Charlize Theron) who, being the oldest and whom they call “Boss”, unexpectedly loses her centuries of immortality with the appearance of Nile (Kiki Layne). Due to being misled by a previously trusted client named Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the team’s special abilities are exposed to the head of Merrick Corp. who believes their DNA could be the answer to aging and illness, as well as creating great wealth for his pharmaceutical company.
After some time apart, the team of four (Andy, Joe, Nicky and Booker) met in Morocco to rescue some kidnapped students, arranged by a previous client named Copley, but were ambushed by a team hired by Copley to catch them, and were shot with hundreds of rounds. The gunmen let down their guard while bullets seemed to magically exit from the bodies of Andy’s team as they came back to life and slaughtered the gunmen. Copley had a long held theory that they were immortal and showed the video to Merrick (Harry Melling), who was developing various anti-aging and anti-disease pharmaceuticals.
After escaping the shootout, the team had a combined dream of a female soldier that was an indicator that there was someone else out there like them, which hadn’t happened for 200 years, Her name was Nile Freeman, a marine in Afghanistan that had gotten in an altercation where her throat was slit and though it seemed she died, she miraculously recovered without even a scratch, which was very disconcerting to her fellow soldiers. Andy, knowing the challenges Nile was facing, left to find the female marine and sent the rest of team after Copley for setting them up.
Andy found Nile and defended her against the soldiers that were about to have her sent away due to her strange recovery. She took her to meet the rest of the team in Paris where they explained that they knew where to find her because they dream of each of each other until they find one another. Joe and Nicky had been part of the team since the Crusades and after endlessly trying to kill each other became lovers. Andy was the oldest, and was struggling with loosing Quynh long ago, who was dropped in a steel cage in the ocean to die and come back to life for eternity.
Unfortunately, Joe and Nicky were captured by an assault team lead by Copley and taken to Merrick’s lab. Nile decided it was all too much, so Andy & Booker went to the lab to rescue Joe and Nicky. Unknown to the team, Booker was working with Copley and helped to capture Andy by shooting her, not knowing she had lost her immortality, but was captured himself by Merrick’s team to be caged and tested with the others.
Nile found Copley, who showed her every incredible thing Andy had affected throughout history with her actions, explaining he turned the team over to help stop disease because of losing his wife. Copley took Nile to the lab to rescue the team and after they escaped they decided Booker’s punishment would be to be alone for 100 years. The team then returned to Copley’s place where they saw all the research he had done to chronicle their heroic efforts throughout time, so they let him off the hook in exchange for protecting them and their anonymity so that they could continue their work.
This film has exquisitely timed action-packed sequences that mimic well-choreographed dance, and Charlize Theron is perfectly cast as the leader of this extraordinary team of immortals. The ending also points toward a sequel with Quynh showing up at Booker’s place six months after his exile.
Rating: R (for sequences of graphic violence, and language)
125 minutes
